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Research Coins: The Coin Shop

 
994455. Sold For $345

C. Fonteius. 114-113 BC. AR Denarius (21mm, 3.77 g, 9h). Rome mint. Laureate, janiform head of Fons (Fontus); X to left of neck, mark of value to right / Galley with pilot and three rowers to left; C • FO(NT) above, ROMA below. Crawford 290/1; Sydenham 555; Fonteia 1. VF, toned, a few light scratches, very minor metal flaws on obverse.


From the Elwood Rafn Collection.

Crawford describes the janiform heads on this coin as the Dioscuri. He discounts any attribution to Fons (Fontus), claiming that “there is no good evidence” (p. 305). His attribution to the Dioscuri, however, derives from a connection to the denarii of Mn. Fonteius (307/1b-d). Crawford argues that, since both moneyers come from the Fons (Fontus), the son of Janus and Juturna (Arnobius, Adversus nationes 3.29), was associated with springs and honored at the Fontinalia, a festival held every 13 October. He was also considered to be the eponymous founder of the gens Fonteia.